India, England sweat over fitness leading into Visakhapatnam Test

England recorded an incredible come-from-behind win in the opening Test against India in Hyderabad, thanks to sparkling efforts from Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley. The two players put behind their dismal performances in the first innings to script a 28-run victory and the England skipper was lavish in his praise for both the chief architects.

India scored 436 in their first innings and even took a lead of 190 runs but ended up losing as England set them a competitive target on a challenging surface. India had three batters reaching the eighties as some contributions from the lower-order to help them bag a big lead before Pope scored an audacious 196 to turn the game around.

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India’s endeavor to chase down 231 on the fourth day fell flat after they lost seven for 119, with debutant left-arm spinner Tom Hartley doing the bulk of the damage with a seven-wicket haul. Indian head coach Rahul Dravid hinted that the rethink could extend to some of the batting plans as well going forward. He also rued the fact that India couldn’t get more in the first innings.

Both India and England have injuries to contend with moving forward in the series. Brendon McCullum might have floated the idea of playing an all-out spin attack against India but that ploy will have to wait. Jack Leach, England’s most experienced spinner in the current squad, is unlikely to be fit for the second Test at Visakhapatnam.

In what comes as a hammer blow to India who suffered a rare home defeat in the series opener, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have been ruled out of the second Test. On Day 4 of the fixture, Jadeja suffered a hamstring injury while batting. During India’s second innings, Jadeja sprinted for a quick single but was caught short of his ground by a reverse-flicked direct hit from Ben Stokes. He was seen clutching his hamstring towards the end of the run. Rahul, meanwhile, complained of right quadriceps pain.

Sarfaraz Khan, Saurabh Kumar and Washington Sundar have been drafted into the squad for the second Test – all of whom were part of the India A side in the ongoing series against England Lions.